This morning, The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released it’s latest “booster seat” ratings. The group found 15 of 17 seats introduced in 2012 have earned their “Best Bet” rating.
However, two boosters are not recommended because they don’t provide proper belt fit and consumers are advised to avoid them.
We happen to own one those.
The Safety 1st All-in-One and Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite, both made by Dorel Juvenile Group are older designs. These models are 3-in-1s that can be used as rear-facing and forward-facing child restraints with a built-in harness.
In my car, Chloé rides in the Britax Marathon 70, which I love. I can’t brag enough about Britax. But in my husband’s car and my mother’s car, she rides in the Alpha Omega Elite.
While Chloé is probably in that car seat in either car maybe once or twice a month, it still scares me. Apparently there was a recall on the seat and I never heard about it.
“The Institute evaluated and rated new booster seats to see how well they position seat belts on a four to eight year old kid. We launched our ratings program after research showed that most boosters weren’t doing a good job positioning seat belts correctly and consistently in a variety of vehicles,” said Anne McCartt, Senior Vice-President, Research, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
According to The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, these seats should work well as child restraints, but they aren’t the best option for boosters because they leave the lap belt too high on the abdomen and the shoulder belt too far out on the shoulder.
Important information on Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite:
Tested model: #22465
Results also apply to: #22456/22195/22187
Dorel Juvenile Group has issued a safety recall on this convertible model built from May 1, 2008 through April 30, 2009 involving the harness locking and release button. Registered owners will receive a free remedy kit; all others should email DJG at [email protected] or call 1-866-623-3139.
For more information go to www.iihs.org.
Sabrina says
I just bought the Safety 1st Alpha Omega Elite Hyde Park Convertible Car Seat from BJ’s for $99.99 for my MIL’s car. I guess when R is ready to switch to a booster we will have to buy something new. Thanks for this post because I had googled the seat before I bought it and didn’t find anything about this.
Courtney says
Sabri, yours is probably in the clear. I actually called the company about mine and thankfully it’s not affected. It’s older models I guess. It’s always great to double check though!
Kristin Wheeler (Mama Luvs Books) says
This car seat looks great! We don’t need any at the moment but I’ll pass the review along!
Megan says
Thanks for posting this! My mom has this seat for my daughter in her car. We use the Britax…love it! 🙂
Erica Mueller says
I JUST bought this seat, and while I could use it just for the child seat and get something else when it’s booster time I’m pretty upset because the reason I spent so much on it was we’d be able to use it forever…
I still have the box. Considering returning and getting something else since he’s only used this thing 3 times.
Joanna {Baby Gators Den} says
Yikes, good to know! Thanks for sharing. PS, so nice meeting you IRL at the Graco event!
Liz {Learning to Juggle} says
Thank you so much for posting about this – we have this seat as well, mostly it was used as a child seat not a booster, but we had kept it for an option for a booster….guess we won’t do that!!!
Courtney Caligiuri says
Liz, I’m using it as a car seat too, so maybe it’s OK in that sense? I’ll prob get a better booster seat when it’s time as well. Glad to hear I’m not the only one with this seat. 🙂
melissa says
great information. i always worry I won’t hear about recalls on things for my son!
jen @keekoin says
Great to know! We just moved the two older girls to boosters, but luckily, it wasn’t a recalled one. Thanks for sharing!
Michele C. says
thanks for posting this, I always fear I won’t hear about a recall or safety issue!!!
jackiehennesse1 says
I’m so sharing this with friends. Thanks, Courtney. Your cutie has such a stylish ride!
mel says
We have the Britax too and love it! Thanks for the information on booster seats. Hayley is too small in weight so I will keep her for awhile longer:)